NATCHEZ — One-million dollars can only go so far in city government, so how far is the City of Natchez going to try to stretch its annual $1 million lease payment from Magnolia Bluffs Casino?

In the last few months, the Natchez Board of Aldermen and Mayor Butch Brown have discussed using the money for street repairs, a rainy day fund, public properties and to cover expenses so a tax-anticipation loan is not needed.

The city currently has approximately $727,000 left of the annual lease payment for the current year, City Clerk Donnie Holloway said.

Brown said last September that the annual lease payment and tax revenue from the casino should be enough to handle the city’s annual debt payment, most of which is for the Natchez Convention Center. The city will have paid approximately $1 million on the center’s debt by the end of this fiscal year, Holloway has said. Holloway said the city would continue paying an average of $1 million on the center’s bond, which will retire in 2024.

The city will also have higher personnel expenses this fiscal year — and in the future — following pay raises and the hires of a community development director, an assistant for the planning and community development, two accountants for the city clerk’s office, two new public works employees and an assistant for the IT director plus an increase to the IT director’s salary of $25,000 more than the previous director’s salary.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith, Ward 5 Alderman Mark Fortenbery and Ward 6 Alderman Dan Dillard most recently supported allocating $500,000 toward the city’s street repair plan.

Most of the aldermen said they are committed to using some of the money for street repairs.

Ward 2 Alderman Ricky Gray said in addition to using the money for street repairs, the city could use the casino money to cover personnel costs, specifically the recent pay raises.

“It’s not a one-time thing,” Gray said. “(The lease payment) is funding you’re going to receive each year.”

But Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said she does not believe it is a good idea to count on the money for personnel costs.

“What if something happened and (the casino) could not make the payment?” Arceneaux-Mathis said. “You don’t need to base your salaries and raises on that payment.”

Arceneaux-Mathis said she does not have a problem using half of the lease payment for whatever the board decides is the best use of the money. But she said she would like to see a rainy day fund eventually set up with the money.

“I have no problem with taking the rental amount for 2014 and letting (the aldermen) do what they need to do with it, and then taking the money for 2015-2016 and using it as a rainy day fund,” Arceneaux-Mathis said.

The city, Arceneaux-Mathis said, could pay for capital improvement projects that it could not get federally funded by letting the $1 million accumulate over time and then allocating it for a specific project.

Brown said several ideas for spending the annual casino lease payment have been thrown around.

“Every time we have a meeting, it seems that money issue is reopened and that money is spent,” Brown joked.

Brown said he believes the $1 million payment should be looked at in comparison to a bigger picture view of all the city’s revenue, instead of looking at it as $1 million for one or two purposes.

“I just think it takes a broader look, an assessment of all revenues before you say what you’re going to earmark it for,” Brown said.

Smith said she does believe the aldermen are looking at the casino payment as part of their overall revenue. She said she would like to see half of the payment used for streets, $250,000 for a rainy day fund and $250,000 used for expenses so the city does not have to take out a tax-anticipation loan.

Smith said it may also be wise for the city to hold onto some of the money until the city’s audit is complete so that it can cover any unanticipated expenses, if any come up.

Ward 4 Alderman Tony Fields said he believes the majority of the annual lease payment should go toward street repairs.

“There are things we need to do with public properties and other things, but we need to invest some money in our infrastructure,” he said.

Regardless of for what the money is used, Fields said he wants to see a plan created for the money.

“We definitely need a plan,” he said. “We’re going to do much better with a plan, and I think that is what we’re working toward.”